I'm finally buying a spankin new raft. I'm back and forth between the Nrs 18 expedition or the Hyside 18 xt. I'm scared about only having two d rings on each side on the Nrs. A big water flip may rip a frame. I do love Nrs for their customer service. Hyside a are supposedly indestuctable with a shorter warranty. Anybody want to give their two cents?

You can't go wrong with either and you can add new D rings to hypalon easily.

If I could afford either, I would go with the hyside because they use true double-sided hypalon. I don't know how much that matters and I don't know if there's a disadvantage to the one-sided hypalon that NRS uses but again if I could afford either I would go Hyside. also if you're looking at hypalon, I would take a look at Achilles. In my opinion they're one of the most underrated boat manufacturers.

If you order in the fall your Hyside is essentially custom built. You order in the fall, boat is built and shipped over from Korea in a shipping container with their yearly boat order in the spring, then forwarded on to you. You can specify additional D rings to be installed and they will put them on when your boat is built. Its not very much extra money. Just make sure they know exactly where you want them when you call to order. NRS will add D rings for you as well, but I believe they do that in Idaho after they receive stock boats from their manufacturer.

Thanks for the info. The Hyside shows 2 outside 2 inside d rings on each side for a frame . Nrs only has 2 outside d rings on each side for a frame. Maybe I'm being scared but I think 4 total is too little if my boat ends upside down churning in the big drops. Are the stock d rings stronger than the glued aftermarket ones?

It sounds pretty stupid to be obsessed with the d rings, I just want to buy my last raft ever and want it perfect .

I'm a fan of more D rings myself. I went with a Hyside 14.0xt because he added 5 extra D rings to that model and I definitely use them, it also had slightly wider top chafe than the NRS and I run a double rail frame. If you are buying new they will gladly get the boat setup just how you want it.

I would definitely have the manufacturer add them vs trying to glue on your own, that way its covered under warranty, plus they are going to do a better job.

My 16' Avon Pro has 14 perimeter D rings and 10 inner D rings to lash wood floors to. Basically there is a D ring on every panel, on the outside of the boat. I run 4 straps to each side of the frame. I've flipped it fully loaded before and was glad to have everything come back up when we re flipped it.

Go for the Hyside.
I think they still make the best boats out there, even nowadays.
We've had some issues with newer model NRS under heavy commercial use.
I can't attest to newer model Hysides, but I hear nothing but good things.
On a boat that size, 4 d-rings sounds way too few to me.

.. and +1 for Achilles.
They're what we use on my river.... I love the new ones.
They had some issues in the early 00's; but the new 16'er we got this year is bomber.
We have some early 90's Achilles that are still holding strong too, tho

Loving my late 90's Hyside. They just don't make 'em like they used to!!!
Even with our pro-deal, a new boat was out of the question for me.

Good luck, and have fun with it!!
Nothing like that new rubber smell!!!!

__________________All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine. - Spicoli

Way cool for the responses . I'm picking up you all think I got lots of money. I'm busting out construction side jobs and don't have kids. Gonna sell a bunch of stuff and hopefully have enough for the whole package. I agree with the pros doing the d ring work. It would make me sad to botch a d ring on a brand new boat! Leaning toward a white Hyside Ps I will have a aire cougar, beat up bucket boat, two frames, junky coolers, three beat up cat oars for sale soon!

My Hyside has a '95 serial number, I believe. I bought it from a guy who bought it after it was retired from a full career on the Arkansas being abused by guides and customers. That was about 12 years ago. I've put some miles on, haven't babied it, have stored it folded off-season, it's been outside some, and the only maintenance I've done is clean it off, and 303 it every so often. It is getting rough around the edges, and could use a few hundred dollars of renovation, but with that, I think it could be good for 5 - 10 more years. I've been damn impressed with what I've got for my $600 (half of $1200) investment in that boat.

I'm probably going to buy a whole new custom setup in the next few months if I can't find something lightly used. I'm going to go Hyside. I'm not against other options, but when it comes time to drop $6-8k on a new pimped out setup, I have full confidence in these boats. I pushed a few of them as a guide, too, with similar results.